Just before the start of Roland Garros, the world No. 1 met with fans in Paris. The First&Red film crew stopped by the event and spoke with Aryna Sabalenka about personal matters — including her engagement to Brazilian businessman Georgios Frangulis.

I will keep my surname, and the children will be Frangulises

— You are a Taurus, he is a Virgo, and those signs are said to make a strong match…

— I never attach stereotypes to zodiac signs. I think there are exceptions, and everything can work differently. I’ll put it this way: he [Georgios] has qualities that strongly remind me of my father. Qualities for which I adored and valued my father. And that does line up between Virgos — my dad was a Virgo too.

— Are you planning to take the surname Frangulis?

— I will keep my surname. I have my own story and, thank God, I'm understood here. I want my father’s surname to be written into history. But if we ever have children, there will be a battle there. Although I’m already losing that battle, so yes, probably, our children will be Frangulises.

— Couples often have little affectionate names for each other, or associate their partner with cute animals — honey, bunny, kitten, that kind of thing. Do you have anything like that?

— He calls me “Meu Amor.” In Russian and English it doesn’t sound as romantic, so we use the Portuguese version. As for animals, I don’t know, this might sound terrible, but he calls me “Baby Dinosaur.” Because... you know... I’m not a tiny little girl. And because there are cartoons with these cute little dinosaurs… And I call him… Okay, I won’t say what I call him, that would be awful…

I’m a mum on minimum settings

We also spoke with Aryna about her dog, who joined Sabalenka’s team before the Indian Wells tournament. The dog, Ashe, became the player’s reward for winning the US Open: Sabalenka had made an agreement with her coach that she would get a dog if she succeeded at the American major. In the end, it became an extra source of motivation for her.

— Aryna, congratulations on the new addition to the family — Ashe is with you now. How did you choose him? Why this breed? And why now?

— We had two breed options. One was a dachshund, a fluffy one. Then сavaliers kept popping up for me, and I fell in love with the breed. They’re so sweet, so kind, they have those little ears. My mum had a spaniel for 12 years, and it’s a great breed — they really love children. In general, I wanted a kind dog. And a smart one. If it were stupid, I probably wouldn’t have managed to train it. At least someone of us will be smart now…

We had been looking for a long time for where we could get that breed; usually you spend two or three months on a waiting list. And the timing just worked out so that we had to get him in America before Indian Wells. We found one in Seattle — Jason, my fitness coach, lives in Seattle — so we found a breeder there. I said I wanted this exact colour, and they sent me two photos. And when I saw those spots on his nose, that little heart, that was it… He is very cute.

— And the name?

— Ashe. Because I had an agreement with the team: if I won the US Open, we would get a dog. I had wanted a dog for a long time. He is responsible for the whole team’s emotional support. We were thinking what to call him — not Apple, obviously, in honour of New York [NY’s nickname is the Big Apple — First&Red]. Then we thought of US Open champion Arthur Ashe. Ashe is short and cute, I think. I’ve trained him a tiny bit, just a little. I’m a mum on minimum settings.

Watch the full episode of the First&Red travel show from the French capital on our VK and YouTube channels.